Christopher Koetke, CEC CCE HAAC Vice President, Strategy and Industry Relations, Kendall College
Christopher Koetke is a professional chef, having worked now for over 37 years in the culinary field. In the last 20 years, he has devoted his professional life to culinary education at Kendall College and at 48 other campuses in 12 countries. An expert on international education, Koetke also has his finger on the pulse of global food, beverage and hospitality trends.
Koetke earned his MBA from Dominican University in River Forest, Ill., a bachelor’s degree in French literature from Valparaiso University in Indiana, and a Certificat de la Langue Française from the Sorbonne in Paris, France. In 2011, he was honored as the Outstanding Alum from the Brennan School of Business at Dominican University, and two years later received an alumni achievement award from Valparaiso University.
Koetke has cooked professionally since 1982 in some of the finest kitchens and pastry shops in France, Switzerland and the United States. Prior to starting to work in culinary education in 1998, he was executive chef of Chicago’s critically acclaimed Les Nomades and competed on a national level.
Chef Koetke is an expert in sustainability as it pertains to the foodservice industry. He serves on many boards, writes for numerous publications, is a frequent international presenter, and has won many awards including: the nonprofit Chefs Collaborative’s inaugural Pathfinder Award in 2010, Chef of the Year for 1996-7 by the Chicago Chapter of the International Wine and Food Society, Cooking Teacher of the Year in 2009 by the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP), the inaugural Award for Excellence in Culinary Education from the Foodservice Educators Network International (FENI), the Illinois and national Association of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Distinguished Service Awards, and the World Chefs Education Award in 2016. His cooking show, “Let’s Dish” which ran for 5 years in the USA was nominated for a Midwest Emmy.
Certified as an executive chef (CEC) and culinary educator (CCE) by the ACF—the largest organization of professional culinarians in the United States—Koetke has been an honorary member (HAAC) of the ACF’s honor society, the American Academy of Chefs, since 2011.
I am a Chef 